“Well, that’s a problem,” Bob muttered, staring at the cobblestone beneath their feet. They had arrived with plenty of time to set up their food booth, but...

Richard, George, and Bob stood at the empty spot where their booth should have been while Rick went off to buy supplies for the day.

“What?” Richard grumbled. There had been nothing but problems.

“How are we going to stake our tent in cobblestone?” Bob asked.

“What?” Richard looked down. He had never put up a tent in a town before. "Oh no."

”Problem?” a voice said from the booth next to them. Richard turned toward the voice.

Richard, George, and Bob stared at the being before them. Judging by her build, she appeared to be female. She was a head shorter than an average human, with hair black as midnight and striking emerald eyes.

Before they could respond, another voice behind them said, “Oh boy, that’s not going to work.” Bob and Richard turned to see two men shaking their heads in disapproval. “You two are trying to pitch a tent? It won’t work. You need to open it up and anchor it.”

Bob and Richard looked at each other, shrugging. George chuckled.

”Let me help,” the woman said. "By the way, I’m Grazia. I’m a Fata; everyone always asks.” She smiled as she walked over, her presence bringing a sense of relief to the group.

The two men joined them.

”I’m Duff, and he’s Buddy,” the blonde human man said. The brunette man waved. “We made that mistake our first time, too.”

As the three of them explained what to do, they began rearranging the tent:

“You don’t need sides; open it up and let everyone see in.”

“The wind will knock it over; you need straps to tie it down.”

More voices joined in as more people started to help.

“I got some straps you can use.”

“I've got extra weights; you can use those.”

”What do you sell?” someone from the crowd asked.

Richard smiled, glad to get a question he knew he could answer, “Hot dogs and vanilla lattes.”

The crowd fell silent. “Hey, are you the orcs who run that restaurant outside of town?”

Bob looked at the crowd, “Uh, yes.”

The crowd cheered.

”I love your vanilla latte.”

”The BLT was delicious.”

”Hot dogs! I’m so happy.”

”When will you be ready to serve?”

Richard grinned, “As soon as we’re set up, we’ll start serving.”

The crowd cheered again. Richard and Bob grinned; they were going to make so much money. The tent was set, and the tables were in their spots. George began to set up the coffee station.

“Did someone order a stove?” boomed a voice over the crowd. A large, muscular man pulling a cart stopped. Sootie was in his human form, which they were more used to. He was still impressive in his human form.

“Thank you, Sootie,” Richard said.

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Bob peered into the cart. “Hey, what’s this?”

Sootie grinned, “I’ve been thinking. You need a flat top for bacon and eggs, but your hot dogs will cook better on a grill. So, I combined them into one. I call it the Grand Griddle Grill Cooking Apparatus.” He grinned, clearly pleased with himself. "Also, I saw how you were making your fries. Behold,” Sootie gestured, “I call it a deep grease potato fryer apparatus.”

“Impressive,” Bob said, “This is going to be great to cook with.”

Richard eyed the new equipment warily. So far, his attempts at cooking had yet to turn out edible. One day after lunch, he’d tried cooking bacon again, and the twins had threatened him. Usually, threatening a chief would call for an execution, but he felt it was fair after what he had served them.

“Can you put the griddle grill cooking apparatus here and the deep grease potato fryer apparatus here,” Bob pointed. “What do you think, Chief? Good spots for me to cook. You can take orders here, George will handle the coffee, and Rick can bring out the food.”

Richard looked over where Bob was pointing. “Yeah,” He said quietly, “Yeah, this is great.” He said more loudly, his confidence growing as he got into the idea.

Bob and Richard looked at each other and said, “We are going to make so much gold!”

“I hope so,” Sootie said. "I’m expecting you to buy more of my apparatuses.” He gave them a broad, friendly smile.

“Of course,” Richard said, “The twins will flip when they see this.”

“Good, good,” Sootie said. "I’ll put you down for three each.” He grinned again.

Richard and Bob looked at each other and said, “Yes!”

“Now, then, boys.” Sooite said, “I’ll take two vanilla lattes to go. Ruby would be mad if I didn’t bring her back one.”

“On it!” George shouted and went to work. Thankfully, they had brought some supplies with them.

Rick returned with a wagon full of bacon, eggs, bread, milk, sausages, and potatoes. They positioned the wagon behind the tent to quickly grab what they needed. (Hello, dear reader. I would like to take a moment to explain why the eggs, milk, and sausage don’t spoil. Magic. Thank you.)

Soon, a line formed as people eagerly awaited their BLTs and vanilla lattes. The festival hadn’t started, and they were already popular.

“Hey, neighbors,” Grazia shouted to the busy Orcs and Imp. Richard looked over and waved, “This vanilla latte is divine." They happily gave everyone who helped free breakfast and lattes. It was a good investment as everyone went out and spread the word. “I’ll bring you boys one of my pies later.”

Richard waved again with a grin, “Thank you. Looking forward to it.”

From the other side of the Orc’s tent, “Got a cool, delicious vanilla latte? Pair it with a baked good. We have something for everyone. A nice baked good after some hearty BLT will hit the spot!”

Richard was impressed by how quickly everyone accepted them and found ways to cooperate. The line didn’t slack until closer to noon, when suddenly everyone disappeared.

“What’s going on?” Bob asked as Richard shrugged.

“Open ceremonies,” Duff said, “If you haven’t seen it, you need to.”

“Who wants to stay behind,” Richard asked.

“No one,” a rough voice behind him said. "You all need to see it at least once.”

Richard spun around, grinning wide. “Battleax!”

“Ah, Chief Richard. I see you pups are doing good,” The old barbarian gave them a gapped-tooth grin.

“It’s been good for us,” Bob said.

“Well, then take a break and see the opening ceremonies,” Battleax said. “I’ve seen them, and they are quite impressive.”

“But what about…” Richard gestured to the tent.

Battleax laughed, “This is my spot to watch. I got from one end of the street to the other end.”

“That’s a lot of ground to watch,” Bob said.

“Meh, word got out about what happened a few years ago, and I’ve not had any trouble since,” Battleax said.

“Uh, what happened?” Bob asked, intrigued.

Battleax gave his signature wild-eyed grin, “Took an hour to clean up the mess.”

Bob held his hands up, “Yeah, I’m good. I just had breakfast.”

Richard laughed, “Me too.” He turned to his crew, “Let’s go, everyone.”

The Orcs and imp joined Buddy, Duff, and Grazia as they made their way to the main stage. It was built at the end of the main road, and from the stage, the main entrance could be seen past the fountain. The festival was spread out in rows of booths like spokes on a wheel with the fountain as a hub. Mayor Hamilton prided himself on his organizational skills. With the rows laid out to lead to and from the fountain, a thief could be herded to the fountain, where it was easier to clean up the mess.

The crowd grew to an enormous size in front of the main stage. Buzzing with excitement, many had seen the ceremony before and knew it was always impressive.

Figures cloaked in purple hooded robes gathered on the stage. They began to hum softly, and the crowd gradually fell silent as the sound grew louder. Soon, the hum became a chant. It was low and unearthly. Drums began to beat—boom, boom. Richard could feel his heart race. It was like they were getting ready to charge into battle—boom, boom.

One figure stepped forward and threw back her hood, revealing a short purple-haired woman. Her outfit was made up of various shades of purple. She wore a wide-brimmed, pointy hat that appeared to be crocheted and, of course, it was purple. The most striking feature was her purple eyes.

“Welcome all, we are the storytellers,” The woman announced over the silent crowd. “We are here to celebrate the elder god Judy. She who chose the eternal slumber to save reality. She who slumbers and dreams of us. She who will never awaken. She the eternal storyteller, the keeper of our stories!” She spread her arms, “Let the festival of Raconteuse begin!”

The crowd cheered!

“I think we should have asked more questions,” Bob said to Richard, who nodded in agreement.